E-26 cross country.

[Shelman]

Heading down to Elliott key today. Hopefully crossing the gulf stream tomorrow.

 

[Shelman]

Made it to AliceTown in Bimini yesterday. We had a delightful crossing that started with a beam wind which gradually came astern until finally we finished the last ten miles sailing wing on wing with the wind directly from astern, we made five to six knots the whole way and it took us about ten hours in total. We are currently waiting for the propane tank to get filled which has already taken three hours... (island time) then we are heading across the banks and on towards the Exumas.

 

[Alan Gomes]

Made it to AliceTown in Bimini yesterday. We had a delightful crossing that started with a beam wind which gradually came astern until finally we finished the last ten miles sailing wing on wing with the wind directly from astern, we made five to six knots the whole way and it took us about ten hours in total. We are currently waiting for the propane tank to get filled which has already taken three hours... (island time) then we are heading across the banks and on towards the Exumas.

This is great, Randy! Keep those updates coming!

I know you are probably having too much fun to spend your time blogging, but if you were so inclined it would be nice for you to post more details about your trip on the blog. I and probably others would read it avidly. I also hope you'll take lots of pictures and make them available on line.

It's great that the sailing part is working out so well for you and your wife, after the setbacks and challenges of your cross country trek. It's terrific to see your perseverance paying off.

 

[Shelman]

Still alive

Hello all, we found our first internet source in the bahamas since my last post. Anchoring out all the time doesnt give many chances for wifi. Were smack in the middle of the bahamas in the Exumas and having the time of our lives! Its even better here than i had dreamed, and i had dreamed it was pretty great. The boat has handed everything like a walk in the park, i can safely say the E-26 is more than capable of even greater journeys than this. We have started video chronicles of our trip and will have a YouTube channel showing the whole thing, but not for some time because we are too busy having fun relaxing to work too hard on it.
Cheers and fair winds to all.

 

[Alan Gomes]

Hello all, we found our first internet source in the bahamas since my last post. Anchoring out all the time doesnt give many chances for wifi. Were smack in the middle of the bahamas in the Exumas and having the time of our lives! Its even better here than i had dreamed, and i had dreamed it was pretty great. The boat has handed everything like a walk in the park, i can safely say the E-26 is more than capable of even greater journeys than this. We have started video chronicles of our trip and will have a YouTube channel showing the whole thing, but not for some time because we are too busy having fun relaxing to work too hard on it.
Cheers and fair winds to all.

Randy,
Thanks for this update. I was wondering how you were getting on. Can't wait to see those video chronicles when you get to them. What is your time frame for this trip? Weeks? Months? Indefinitely?

Glad to hear our little E26 handles it all well. What sort of conditions have you encountered? I'd love to get more details, especially on the sailing, if/when you get a chance. Also, how is your new autopilot working?

Hey, on the way back to Oregon you ought to make your route via southern California. Then, you could thoroughly cruise Catalina as well as the northern channel islands. You and your wife would especially like to explore Santa Cruz Island, which purportedly has the largest sea cave in the world. There is plenty of space in my marina in San Pedro for a temporary slip, and it's the closest point for treks to Catalina. Then, on your way back home you could stop off in SF and cruise the Bay Area. Just some thoughts.

 

[Shelman]

Randy,
Thanks for this update. I was wondering how you were getting on. Can't wait to see those video chronicles when you get to them. What is your time frame for this trip? Weeks? Months? Indefinitely?

Glad to hear our little E26 handles it all well. What sort of conditions have you encountered? I'd love to get more details, especially on the sailing, if/when you get a chance. Also, how is your new autopilot working?

Hey, on the way back to Oregon you ought to make your route via southern California. Then, you could thoroughly cruise Catalina as well as the northern channel islands. You and your wife would especially like to explore Santa Cruz Island, which purportedly has the largest sea cave in the world. There is plenty of space in my marina in San Pedro for a temporary slip, and it's the closest point for treks to Catalina. Then, on your way back home you could stop off in SF and cruise the Bay Area. Just some thoughts.

Alan,we are planning on sailing around the Bahamas until the hurricane season starts in June, then back to Florida to bounce around for a bit. Long term our plan is to spend some time in Utah which unfortunately means being away from the sea. I hope never to have to tow the boat across the country again! It’s staying in Florida! I can keep it on the trailer in a yard for $50 month if I’m away and not using it, altho it breaks my heart to even think about that.
We have had mostly great sailing weather with lots of 12kt beam winds, and one nasty storm where we had the sea anchor out all night. There were steep 10’ waves coming over the boat and it was pretty miserable, but the boat handled it easily, Its her crew that meets their limits in times like those. I was seasick and asleep below all night and my wife was up making sure we didn’t get run down by a freighter or cruise ships.
The upgrades and prep have really been paying off, and the swim step is essential! I can’t imagine being here with out it! The water maker is nice too, we do all our washing, showering, cooking and drinking without worry of running out of fresh water, and the solar panels keep everything charged up without having to run the engine. I might add refrigeration for the next trip though, and of course I’d have to add more charging power to run it.
I can’t recommend this evo autopilot enough! It’s so much better than the tiller pilot that I don’t even consider them to fulfill the same function.

 

[Alan Gomes]

Alan,we are planning on sailing around the Bahamas until the hurricane season starts in June, then back to Florida to bounce around for a bit. Long term our plan is to spend some time in Utah which unfortunately means being away from the sea. I hope never to have to tow the boat across the country again! It’s staying in Florida! I can keep it on the trailer in a yard for $50 month if I’m away and not using it, altho it breaks my heart to even think about that.
We have had mostly great sailing weather with lots of 12kt beam winds, and one nasty storm where we had the sea anchor out all night. There were steep 10’ waves coming over the boat and it was pretty miserable, but the boat handled it easily, Its her crew that meets their limits in times like those. I was seasick and asleep below all night and my wife was up making sure we didn’t get run down by a freighter or cruise ships.
The upgrades and prep have really been paying off, and the swim step is essential! I can’t imagine being here with out it! The water maker is nice too, we do all our washing, showering, cooking and drinking without worry of running out of fresh water, and the solar panels keep everything charged up without having to run the engine. I might add refrigeration for the next trip though, and of course I’d have to add more charging power to run it.
I can’t recommend this evo autopilot enough! It’s so much better than the tiller pilot that I don’t even consider them to fulfill the same function.

Excellent update, Randy!

I didn't know you were planning to carry a sea anchor. I'd be curious to know about the details of your setup. How well did the boat lie to the sea anchor, specifically? Where were you located at the time? Did it keep the bow pretty well into the waves? What sort of wind speeds were you seeing in addition to the waves?

Glad your equipment upgrades are paying off. Do you have a water heater on board?

The Evo autopilot sounds terrific. The ST2000 tiller pilot is really a toy, I think. If I were to do a trip like you did I'd definitely upgrade the AP--either to the Evo or a Pelagic. If you've been following Webb Chiles's journey you'll see that he now has a Pelagic AP that is working well for him (though it's on the noisy side), whereas his multiple Raymarine tiller pilots (not the Evo) seem to croak with regularity. I wonder why he didn't just go with one like yours?

Keep the updates coming. Great stuff.

 

[Shelman]

Checking in from West End... We're heading back to Florida in a few days. I'll try and Post a few pictures tomorrow. Its been an incredible trip! We're still working on videos for Youtube but we have enough for a good long video series, I can't wait to share them!
Also the boat will be for sale as soon as we get back to Florida, its a sad day to part with it, but It won't be the last on either.

 

[Alan Gomes]

Checking in from West End... We're heading back to Florida in a few days. I'll try and Post a few pictures tomorrow. Its been an incredible trip! We're still working on videos for Youtube but we have enough for a good long video series, I can't wait to share them!
Also the boat will be for sale as soon as we get back to Florida, its a sad day to part with it, but It won't be the last on either.

Glad you are having such a good time, Randy. But why the decision to sell? You really tricked out that boat. Moving on to something bigger?

 

[Shelman]

Glad you are having such a good time, Randy. But why the decision to sell? You really tricked out that boat. Moving on to something bigger?

I promised the wife a couple years in Utah near her family and realized that I'd rather sell and buy again than hold onto it for three years or more. Yea I went a bit overboard on the refit but we've had a great time and have no regrets. The size of the E-26 was never a problem on this trip or any other, but I have always loved the E-35 mkIII and would probably look into starting anew with one down the road. As well there might be more of us by the time I get around to trip number two.

 

[Shelman]

We posted a new video today!
We have so much content, but it takes a goid bit of work to get a video out. Thankfully my wife is the editing mastermind and not me, otherwise they might never get done.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=6VGLW6sy2oA

 

[footrope]

We posted a new video today!
We have so much content, but it takes a goid bit of work to get a video out. Thankfully my wife is the editing mastermind and not me, otherwise they might never get done.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=6VGLW6sy2oA

Nice work. Your drone footage is cool. I also enjoyed the Sunset Caves video.

 

[Shelman]

Thanks footrope. We had a blast making them!

 

[bigd14]

Great video! What a fantastic experience!

 

[Mark F]

Hi Randy,

Nicely done video!

 

[footrope]

Hi Randall,

I have been enjoying your videos over on your Turtle channel. You guys are doing a great job with them. Watching the last one where you tried to get up on the plane in the dinghy, and then later you hoisted that 6hp Evinrude back onto the rail, I came up with a couple questions. I have an 8'6" Achilles RIB (80 lb) and a 6hp Tohatsu 4-cycle (60 lb). I just went through a carburetor cleaning and the motor is running great again, as far as I can tell. I recall being able to get up on the plane in smooth water with two average sized people at a little over half throttle. We can still get up on the plane, but the top-end rpm seems lower than I recall. We're at max rpm now to get up on the plane, but max rpm is reached at about half range of the twist of the throttle. I am wondering if my perception is faulty and my expectations too great?

How heavy is your dinghy and is it a RIB? Any data I can get to decide if I need to look further at the engine would be helpful.

Thanks!